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Notes to Self

2. To let Matt Hartings know how much you admire his recent post, My Chemically Fueled Life – which does a wonderful job of illuminating the ways we understand – and fail to understand – our chemical-based world.

3. To send further fan mail to Mary Carmichael for her funny and smart blog, “F No, Chemical Free!” and tell her how glad I am to see an organized push back against our very careless use of that very meaningless phrase. Oh, yes, and more fan mail to Julia Diebol at Risk Science Blog and as ever to David Ropeik for his exceptional efforts to educate the rest of us about the oddities of human risk perception, chemical and otherwise.

4. To remind visitors to my blog to check out the comment section on my own recent post on the subject, Chemical Free Crazies. Also to figure out a way to thank blog readers for the above discussion, which was so smart that you ( the blog author herself) felt privileged to read it.

5. Also remember to reassure the writer of one of those comments, Dr. Isis, about the brilliance and dedication of science journalists who are so NOT in a lesser profession. And remember that the 600 members of said profession planning to attend the World Conference of Science Journalists would agree with me.

6. Congratulate yourself (two years as program chair!) – and all your colleagues – on accomplishing something else though – a truly international program. When we say “world” conference, we journalists really mean it.

8. Start thinking about life after WCSJ. That would start in July, you know. Remember the book proposal you’ve promised to finish. The magazine articles you’ve agreed to write. The blog posts just buzzing to be written. More chemical-free wars to be fought!

11. But – and let’s get real, this one should be first on the list – when you get home, go home and stay there for a while. Your family will be very happy to see you Assuming, of course, that they haven’t already changed the locks on the house.